<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Don’t worry about it by Zoya113</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26833390">Don’t worry about it</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya113/pseuds/Zoya113'>Zoya113</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gift Fic, Idk what a main character is I’m wilding I’m so sorry, They’re teenagers, they are sisters, tw for mentions of eating in the first scene, tw for unhealthy home life</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:54:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,640</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26833390</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya113/pseuds/Zoya113</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Schaeffer thinks her sister worries too much</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Colonel Schaeffer &amp; Carol</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Don’t worry about it</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetMePukeInYourMouthEm/gifts">LetMePukeInYourMouthEm</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>All I do is sit here and tailor fics to my friends interests thank u</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her father wasn’t really an expert at cooking dinner anymore, but Carol couldn’t blame him. </p>
<p>He probably had a lot on his mind, he was stressed and tense lately and that’s why he had been acting out. Carol was just trying to stay out of his way, she didn’t want to be a bother at all and that’s why she didn’t mention how uncooked the nights meal was. </p>
<p>Maybe she was just making it up, her father had finished and Claire was still wolfing it down - although she was sure her sister would eat anything if it was put in front of her. </p>
<p>She didn’t like evenings much, she would always hope when they all sat down that they could have a normal discussion but those hopes were always crushed about five minutes in.</p>
<p>Tonight in particular, Claire was picking a fight with him over something small that had happened this morning - she was helping Claire pack her bag so they weren’t late to school and he went off at her. </p>
<p>She didn’t want Claire to bother him over it though. She shouldn’t have been helping. Her older sister could easily do it herself, she was probably just getting in the way and her dad hadn’t slept well last night. </p>
<p>Claire though, was persistent that he had been overreacting but every time she opened her mouth he would just talk over the top of her, the both of them fighting for volume as Carol sat there playing with her fork.</p>
<p>“Is there a problem?” Her father turned to her instead of Claire, who was still trying to make a point. “With dinner?” His tone was already a bit gruff so she shook her head quickly. </p>
<p>“I’m sorry. I was just thinking.” She tried to explain herself, taking another bite despite how bad it tasted. </p>
<p>Claire glanced up at that, casting a glance between her father and her younger sister, still chewing. She was silent again now and watching closely.</p>
<p>“Oh well don’t waste it, Carol.“</p>
<p>She nodded.</p>
<p>“I’ll finish it if you don’t,” Claire volunteered eagerly.</p>
<p>Her dad shook her head. “Don’t eat her food, Claire.”</p>
<p>Claire didn’t reply, she just turned back to her plate. </p>
<p>She was hoping her father would stand up and leave now that he was done but he was just watching her. </p>
<p>“I think I’m full, dad,” she went to put her fork down and he reached across the table to strike it, she quickly drew it back to her chest in shock. </p>
<p>“Don’t waste it. You two can tidy up in here when you’re done.” He finally stood up to go wander off to the lounge room and she let out a sigh of relief now that his presence wasn’t drowning the room.</p>
<p>“I’ll eat it if you don’t want it,” Claire offered. “I’m hungry.”</p>
<p>“He told me to finish it though,” and she didn’t want to upset him if he found out, but Claire just snatched her plate from under her in order to finish it off, so Carol got up quietly to go start washing the dishes. </p>
<p>“He can’t cook,” her older sister said, ever just a bit too blunt. </p>
<p>“It’s not that bad!” Carol tried to defend him, but Claire cut her off by simply clicking her tongue. </p>
<p>“Nah. Tastes like shit,” she said as she continued eating. “Is your hand okay?” </p>
<p>“Yeah,” she looked down at her wrist. It was really only a little bit red, it wasn’t a big deal. </p>
<p>She shook her head firmly. “He’s not supposed to hit you.”</p>
<p>“He’s just stressed, Claire,” she tried to tell him because she knew her sister wasn’t too bright when it came to emotions. “He hasn’t been well, lately.” </p>
<p>“Mom died like years ago. He isn’t ‘still stressed’ he’s just a bad man,” she collected the plates from the table to bring them over. “He’s-“</p>
<p>“Oh!” She interrupted. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to cut you off but you can’t say that! He has to look after both of us and that’s not always easy.” </p>
<p>“You give more to this house. Not him.” She stacked the plates before going back for the cups and the beer bottle left by her dad’s stained placemat. </p>
<p>Carol didn’t like talking about it, no matter how often Claire tried to bring it up. “He contributes plenty. He pays the bills and he makes dinner and-“</p>
<p>“‘Dinner’ is rich. That was an oven meal that wasn’t even cooked properly. And he isn’t paying the bills for us to stay here. He’s bad.”</p>
<p>“Oh well what about you though!” She switched topics quickly so Claire would stop saying that out loud when their dad could still be in earshot. She didn’t want to give him more to stress over. </p>
<p>She just let out a loud laugh. “No,” she sat up on the table now that their dad wasn’t here to tell her off. “That’s funny.”</p>
<p>Carol fell silent, sinking her hands into the hot water. “You don’t have to make a big deal out of it. It doesn’t hurt.”</p>
<p>“But you aren’t supposed to, tell me you aren’t supposed to.” Quite honestly, it sounded like she did in fact want an answer. “You don’t just hit people.” </p>
<p>Carol shrugged. “No, you aren’t supposed to but-“ </p>
<p>“But? I don’t understand?” She hopped back off the table. “I’m going.”</p>
<p>“Going where?”</p>
<p>“Don’t worry about it.”</p>
<p>But she already was. Quite often her sister would just leave home for a couple days at a time, and those were often her worst days. She didn’t argue though because it was better than her going to go pick a fight with their dad over it. Technically her father probably just wanted what was best for her, she had lost her appetite lately and maybe he just didn’t think she was getting enough nutrients or something. She felt bad for worrying him and let out an uneasy groan.</p>
<p>She could see her sister through the kitchen window above the sink, starting with her usual routine of just punching the backyard tree. Carol didn’t get it, but she didn’t get much about her. </p>
<p>She figured it was just her way of releasing energy. She had enough for the both of them it seemed. She had actually taken to working out properly in the past few years. She would do her pushups while Carol did their homework. </p>
<p>Now the only other sound in the house was the noise of dad’s TV and she caught herself steading her breath like she didn’t even want to breathe too loudly lest she upset him. </p>
<p>It was even in small things like taking a little extra time to wash the dishes in hopes he would fall asleep and she could cross back to her room without bothering him. But there was a balance, and if she took too long doing the dishes that’d probably upset him too and she didn’t want to be a bother. </p>
<p>It was all a series of very complication equations that tended to run through her mind. She just wanted to keep her dad happy, he had been so high strung lately and she felt terrible for him.</p>
<p>“Carol!” </p>
<p>Shoot, maybe she had taken too long. She wiped her hands down on the tattered hand towel before hurrying to his call where he was standing at the back door so she didn’t keep him waiting. “Yes?”</p>
<p>“Can you get your sister in? She isn’t listening to me,” he watched her strike at the tree a little longer. “Claire! Get inside!” He demonstrated a call for her, and her sister didn’t even spare him a glance, just kept punching. “Handle it, please, Carol.” He grabbed her shoulder just a little too hard as he trudged back through the living room. “I’m going to bed. Turn off the lights, and don’t be so loud.”</p>
<p>She nodded silently, hurrying out into the grass and keeping a cautious distance. “You’re going to make your knuckles bleed again.” </p>
<p>“It’s fine,” she said. “You don’t have to worry.”</p>
<p>She was though. She didn’t want their dad to give them both another scolding. “Dad wants you to come inside,” she informed her, playing anxiously with her hands. “We have to be quiet.”</p>
<p>“Why do I have to listen to him? I’m eighteen I’m not going to bed at nine,” she shook her head, swinging another punch at the tree that did not move. </p>
<p>She just wished her sister would stop giving her more things to stress about. “Well we could try and work on that assignment you have coming up.”</p>
<p>“Don’t worry about it, Carol. I’ll get an extension. You can go to bed if you want.”</p>
<p>Carol loitered for a moment longer. “I just think dad’s gonna be upset if we don’t go to bed and he’s already so stressed,” she tried. </p>
<p>She swung one particularly harsh punch at the tree before letting her hands fall to her side, they were sort of shaking. “Alright. But you know what I say about that stressed thing.” </p>
<p>“Mhm, I know, yeah.” </p>
<p>She flicked off all the lights as they passed back through the kitchen and living room, making sure to tidy up her dad’s mess too just to get it off his back. </p>
<p>She walked through the living room off to their bedroom on the tips of her toes, listening carefully for any sounds she might be making. </p>
<p>“Oh- Claire,” she sighed. “Don’t you want to calm down before bed?” She offered, pulling out her pencil case and placing it lightly on her desk. “Your essay is due this Friday,” she glanced up at the calendar where she often winded up taking notes for her sister despite being the younger of the two. </p>
<p>“I just wanna do some pushups,” she said from where she was already on the floor. “Don’t worry about my work.”</p>
<p>“I will, Claire. You have to do it.” She had too much energy. She didn’t know what on earth she was working out for but Carol knew she probably couldn’t do it. She was lacking with that lately, she didn’t know why but she was always so exhausted by the end of the day. </p>
<p>“Is your hand okay?” Claire asked in between pushups. </p>
<p>“I told you, it’s fine, Claire. It didn’t really hurt,” she checked the soreness on her arm again. “What about yours?” Her hands were quite gnarled for someone her age, but tree punching wasn’t really recommended for smooth skin. </p>
<p>“They’re fine. You know I thought you were gonna punch him.”</p>
<p>She gasped. “No, why would I? Is that what he thought?” She clasped her hands to her stomach. </p>
<p>“I’d punch him,” she stood up, literally turning on her heel for their door when Carol called her out.</p>
<p>“Please, don’t do that. It’s not nice to hit people,” she tried to reason with her, but she should’ve known there wasn’t much common sense in her sister. </p>
<p>“How come he can do it then?” She responded quite incredulously. </p>
<p>“Claire, can you please just come try out your essay? You know you get mad when you get in trouble about it.” She patted the spot on the table next to her pleadingly. They had this back and forth just about every night.</p>
<p>Begrudgingly, she came and sat down. </p>
<p>Carol didn’t think she was really working, but it was better than her starting a fight for now. “You look angry, are you okay?”</p>
<p>She nodded. “I feel fine.” That was always her response, but she was scratching small scribbles in red pen into the corner of her blank paper. It certainly didn’t look fine.</p>
<p>“Really?” </p>
<p>“Yeah,” Claire nodded, glancing up. At least she always looked calm, it helped Carol stay calm too. “Don’t worry about it.”</p>
<p>———————————————————</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you ready for school yet?” Her dad was rushing about the kitchen preparing for his own day, he looked tense. </p>
<p>Carol nodded as she packed her books into her bag. “Yeah, I’m ready.”</p>
<p>“Well can you go get your sister inside? She’s being god damn feral or something again.” </p>
<p>She glanced out the kitchen window into the backyard but she didn’t see her there. “Yeah. Sure.” She didn’t want to waste his time by asking where she was, just zipped up her backpack and darted out into the yard. “Claire?” She called out. </p>
<p>“What?” Claire called back, swinging her legs.</p>
<p>She looked up to where the sound had come from, and found her sister about halfway up the tree.  </p>
<p>“It’s time to go to school, we’ll be late.” She didn’t like being late because it meant more time spent around the house.</p>
<p>Claire nodded towards the door. “You can go then. I’m not going today,” she shrugged.</p>
<p>She paused. “You can’t stay home, though. You have to go to school you get marked on attendance.” </p>
<p>“It’s senior year stuff. I don’t have to go today. You should go if you want to be on time. Don’t worry about it.” She stayed there, swinging her legs. Carol was about to open her mouth to protest again but she was spoken over. “If you can’t make me come down you can’t make me go to school.” </p>
<p>“Uh,” couldn’t technically argue with that, could she? “I think you’re going to upset dad.”</p>
<p>“Well unless he can climb up here and sort it out himself then too bad for him,” she was quite content up there it seemed. “You should go. Don’t worry about it.”</p>
<p>Except she was going to worry about it, of course. “How are you going to get down own your own?” Carol inquired as she started backing up towards the door. </p>
<p>Unfortunately her sister was a bit impulsive, and most of the time took to just falling out of the tree as ‘the fastest way down,’ and Carol wouldn’t be there to help her. </p>
<p>“Don’t worry about it!” Claire raised her voice a little louder now just so carol could hear clearly from the ground. “Go!” </p>
<p>Just so she didn’t upset her sister, she left. Through the side gate too just so she didn’t have to pass back by her dad and upset him too. </p>
<p>She assumed perhaps Claire just had a test or a paper due today. It wasn’t unusual for her to skip classes but usually she wouldn’t stay home - she’d stay in the nurses office or hang out at the park. She just hoped her sister wouldn’t try to toss herself back down the second she got bored.</p>
<p>It was a challenge to keep her mind from wandering some days, and especially lately. And it was leaving her feeling flat and tired every waking moment. There was an odd cycle at home ever since their mother had passed where her father would be so stressed and upset, and it would just make Claire angry too. </p>
<p>It was a building tension and Carol often found herself being the one to keep the peace for as long as she could until the eventual explosion. It was tough work but somebody had to do it.<br/>———————————————————</p>
<p>“Hey dad,” Claire was still brushing grass and bark off her shirt when she stepped inside, making direct eye contact with her dad. </p>
<p>“Claire, I thought you were off to school. What’re you still doing here?” He marched over to her. “Go on. If you hurry now you can catch up with your sister.” </p>
<p>“Stop being mean to her,” she stated, straightforward.</p>
<p>“God, what do you mean? Don’t you have to go to school?” He placed both of his hands on his hips and it reminded Claire of what she had learnt about predatory animals. She squared her shoulders and puffed out her chest so she could seem bigger too. </p>
<p>“Why’d you hit her last night?”</p>
<p>“I barely touched her!” He dropped his first argument immediately once the topic was brought up. </p>
<p>“You aren’t suppose-“</p>
<p>“I said I didn’t touch her. She just whines, you were there and you didn’t see anything!”</p>
<p>“I saw it!” She snapped.</p>
<p>“Well you clearly didn’t if you think that was the case!” He was looking down at her now, his breath hot and still carrying the scent of last night’s drinks.</p>
<p>“No, you hit her on the wrist for putting her fork down!” She spat, starting to feel her own breathing quicken when she remembered it. “What for!”</p>
<p>“Oh well my parents did a lot worse to me for a lot less when I was a kid!” Again his argument had changed.</p>
<p>“I-“</p>
<p>“Back in my day that would’ve been generous!” He spoke right over her. </p>
<p>“I don’t care! You aren’t supposed to hit people!” He had been doing an awful lot of hitting things lately. Quite specifically anything that caused him a problem - and that tended to somehow always be Carol. “You-“</p>
<p>“No. It didn’t even hurt! She’s just complaining!”</p>
<p>“Can you stop talking over me!?” She yelled. She wasn’t a chatty person, so it really pissed her off when she couldn’t get a word out. </p>
<p>“No. I’m not the one shouting!” He fired back. “You’re the one who’s mad, you don’t have to tidy up after your sister when she causes trouble!”</p>
<p>“She didn’t cause-“</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t have had to do it if she just did as she was told!” He barked, incredulous like he couldn’t even tell he had done anything wrong. </p>
<p>She tried to speak again and he just raised his voice louder, she was getting red in the face now and her ribs were tightening. She stared at him unblinkingly, noticing her hands start to shake. </p>
<p>“You are so over dramatic! You’re being emotional!”</p>
<p>“I’m not! I-!” She barked back, but he still interrupted by walking right over her words.</p>
<p>“Why are you raising your voice!? Your sister is not your problem okay? I’m her dad and-“</p>
<p>She didn’t really think about it, just let one of her shaking hands raise itself before swinging a fist at his jaw to shut him up. “I wasn’t finished talking,” she told him, remnants of anger still thick in her voice but the tightness of her ribs letting go. She sort of wanted to hit him again. “Can you shut up?” </p>
<p>He had stumbled back, clutching at his jaw where she had swung. </p>
<p>There was a lot of power behind it. She was sort of used to punching trees, skin just felt a whole lot better on her scarred knuckles. </p>
<p>“What the fuck?” He gasped, checking his hand first to ensure there wasn’t any bleeding before looking back at her.</p>
<p>She raised a hand up just to protect herself if he decided to swing back.</p>
<p>“You know I can call the police for that,” he threatened, breathless.</p>
<p>Claire wasn’t scared. Her heart already calmed back down, and she could feel a cool blue feeling in her gut. She hadn’t expected that. “And what’re you gonna say?” She taunted.</p>
<p>He was stunned, “you aren’t allowed to do that.”</p>
<p>That confused her. “How come you can then?” She asked. “You do that to Carol all the time!” </p>
<p>She didn’t think she had a chance at getting through to him now, though, so she was surprised when his temper seemed to even out. </p>
<p>“Get to school,” he growled. “Now.”</p>
<p>She didn’t even have her bag on her, but with a quick snarl she rolled her eyes to go find her sister.</p>
<p>“And don’t you dare do that again,” he threatened, catching the underside of her jaw with his fist as she was walking by. </p>
<p>She rubbed a hand to it, but she was numb to the feeling. A red hot anger still raced through her veins, but for now she would have to go and find her sister. </p>
<p>———————————————————</p>
<p>Carol was deep in thought as she collected her books from her locker, she was still thinking about what would happen when she got home. Technically, if Claire was skipping a quiz she would get in trouble and then she would be upset, but her dad didn’t like it when she tried to calm her down. He would always say Claire could handle it herself but it made her fret when she couldn’t help. </p>
<p>She was already trying to calculate some sort of plan to stay out of trouble when someone crashed into the lockers besides her. “Carol!” </p>
<p>“Oh my goodness!” Carol’s hand raced to her heart as she stepped out of the way. “Claire, I thought you were home!”</p>
<p>“Well I’m here now,” she said, having absolutely no books or bags with her. Not even a pen to write with. “Are you okay?” She asked.</p>
<p>Carol nodded. “Why wouldn’t I be?”</p>
<p>“Oh, just wondering,” she blinked. </p>
<p>Usually her expression was rather unreadable, but Carol swore there was a hint of a smile to her face. “Oh, what happened to your jaw?” She reached out but Claire put a hand to her chin first, arm half raised to stop her from touching it.</p>
<p>“It’s nothing,” she rubbed her jaw. “Don’t you have to go to class?”</p>
<p>“Oh but Claire, it looks like it hurts,” she frowned, clutching at her textbook. “Would you like me to take you to the nurse’s office?”</p>
<p>Claire shook her head, walking with her to her class despite not even having any books. Carol figured she wasn’t staying long. “You panic a lot,” she simply told her, shoving her hands in her pockets. </p>
<p>“How did it happen? Did someone do that to you?” She suggested nervously, but Claire laughed again. It was strange for her, and it took Carol by surprise. She smiled too, since it couldn’t be that serious then. </p>
<p>“Nah. I just fell out of the tree again, thats all,” her sort of half smile turned into a grin when she saw Carol’s own smile. “You don’t even have to worry about it.” </p>
<p>And her sister looked so happy when she said that. So maybe for once, she wouldn’t.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>